Amazon Drones: the key to the future
A future with floating warehouses and drones flying around the neighborhood may not be that far away. Amazon has already filed for patents for floating airships and their Amazon Drones. A few years from now, drone delivery might become a reality, and seeing drones flying around will not be any different than seeing a mailman.
Amazon’s new drone delivery system will be called Amazon Prime Air. Amazon’s vision is to deliver packages weighing 5 pounds or less to people around the world in 30 minutes or less. The company has been testing multiple designs and have released videos of the drones in action on their website. Some look almost like a box, and some are the standard quadcopter design. Some are larger than a human while some barely reach your knees. The on-board camera gives an amazing view of what the drone sees. The drones also have sensors to avoid objects like trees and buildings. When it reaches the destination, it hovers just above the ground, releases the package, and flies back to the warehouse.
So far, Amazon has made developments in the United States, the United Kingdom, Austria and Israel to test the designs.Their top priority is safety and they continue to gather information so that they can expand their reach. Currently, the drones are allowed to fly during daylight hours with low wind, but not during rain, high wind, or snow.
The concept is promising but still needs refinement before it can be implemented on a wide scale. Once Amazon can ensure performance, reliability and safety, then it may be a great addition to today’s delivery system.
